Lalit Shastri Speaks- A News18 commentary on status of tigers in Madhya Pradesh screams: Tiger State Madhya Pradeah saw 43 of the felines die in 2021.
The News 18 exclusive report by Vivek Trivedi at the end of 2021 points out that the central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh, after reclaiming the Tiger State tag by reporting 526 of the big cats in the 2018 census, continued to record high tiger mortalities in 2021 with 43 deaths, including 19 outside the protected areas (PAs), 21 inside tiger reserves, and three seizures of body parts.
I have devoted a good part of my life to the cause of tigers and forest conservation. So for me it is more than just sad the way tigers are perishing or getting killed....I'm horrified by the fact that most of those who can act have abdicated their responsibility....lnstead they are busy counting their gains and falling to greater depths on being doled out lavish sinecures and positions that matter. By paying lip service to combat Wildlife crime and by going all out to allow reckless cattle grazing, logging, minor forest produce collection, mining and encroachment of forest land, they are thriving and at the same time driving the last nail in the coffin of this majestic species. Irony is that those who have carved a name for themselves as Apostles of Conservation have became larger than life and larger than the tiger itself. While the biotic pyramid, with the tiger that was supposed to sit comfortably at its peak, crumbles, the Lord's of democracy and their minions or the crony capitalists continue to bask in the glory of their ill-gotten, money, power and fame. This, while the voiceless tiger clings to the precipice of its once rich habitat for survival.
